There Are Some Things a Guy Just Can't Say
by Tender Falling Rain
Summary: Ranma decides it's finally time to confess to Akane. Can he actually do it this time, or will he chicken out? Will Akane actually give him a chance to say what's on his mind or will she be too impatient and lose her temper again? Find out what happens! RR


Bummer… I don't own Ranma ½. Oh well, enjoy the story anyway!

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Akane sat on the porch overlooking the koi pond, a lazy smile on her face as she listened to the sounds of their home which included her family's general antics, the buzzing of nearby cicadas and the quiet whir of the oscillating fan blowing some much needed cool air on her. It was still pretty hot, but not nearly as hot as it had been during the previous weeks. Despite the heat it was a beautiful Monday afternoon, and easily the nicest one they'd seen in several months. She yawned and stretched, trying to will herself to get up, but remained seated, quietly reflecting as she stared at a few wisps of storm clouds that were beginning to formulate overhead. "Summer's almost over," she mused quietly. The change in season brought many new things. It would rain more, which meant life would become a little more troublesome for Ranma, as he would inevitably start changing genders more frequently. However, despite that fact Akane couldn't help but smile as she thought about what else the change in seasons would bring.

"No time to think about that now though. I should really get started on..." Her thoughts were interrupted as something hit her in the head, and she crossed her eyes, looking upwards at the object still stuck above her brow. She reached up and pulled the suction cup arrow off her forehead and giggled when she saw the note attached to the silly toy. "Arrow mail," she mused, laughing at the private joke between her and Ranma, thinking about how he had sent her a note like this once before back when she had the battle armor that made her invincible and he had tried to render it ineffective on her by making her fall in love with him. The memory carried with it some mixed emotions. After all his intentions at the time still caused her to feel some quenches of anger, but the end result had showed her a glimpse of his true feelings for her, which had been rare.

Abandoning her thoughts she pulled the letter from the arrow and after unfolding it read the words hastily scrawled on the paper.

"Meet me in the dojo," it read simply. With a slight laugh she stood and padded towards the dojo as requested. "Why he can't just tell me something out in the open I'll never understand. I guess after all this time he's still just a silly young boy at heart with his little games," she mused somewhat fondly. It remained one of the things she liked about him. He was always spontaneous and full of surprises, and that aspect of his personality kept her life pleasantly entertaining.

She entered the dojo and spotted him right away, standing in the middle of the room with a stern look on his face, his arms crossed, and his jaw set in determination.

"Uh oh. Serious face," she chirped in an amused tone. He turned his head to look at her and a ghost of a smile forced its way through his expression. "So what's up?" Akane asked somewhat hesitantly. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"I've been thinking a lot lately about... Well, what happened yesterday..." he began nervously.

"Oh come on Ranma! Seriously? Are you still going on about that? I told you already, it means nothing! Just because I..."

"I know, I know, but still... It got me thinking about... Well, you and me and our relationship and how I... Well... I'm not always... Fair about certain things. And I know you don't think I always treat you right, and you think that I don't respect you. But I do respect you. I really do. I uh, just don't always show it right or say it like I should. Along with other things I should say..."

"R-Ranma?" She asked tentatively, touched by his words, wondering if he would actually say what she thought he was trying to say. She knew the events that had taken place the previous day had affected him, but she hadn't realized how much.

"Akane!" He practically shouted his voice dramatic with his determination. "I wanted to tell you that I…"

He hesitated momentarily, and she felt her breath catch in her throat and her heart flutter slightly. _"Is he actually going to say it? After all this time?"_

"Akane," he started again. "I lo-lo... I-I lo..."

His strangely expressive pigtail suddenly drooped in defeat along with his shoulders and Akane sighed, watching as the determined Martial Artist she was so familiar with disappeared, only to be replaced by a stuttering, frustrated, uncertain boy that was either unwilling or unable, she wasn't quite sure which, to humble himself before her long enough to admit to the truth. However, she wanted to hear those words so badly, so forgetting her own frustration she stepped forward and laid a hand on his arm where his muscles were tensed from the strain of his efforts and smiled at him reassuringly. "It's okay Ranma. You can tell me! I won't laugh or anything."

His eyes darted to her hopefully and he tilted his head slightly regarding her with a degree of skepticism.

"Promise!" she exclaimed. "Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle and yada yada." She smiled again and he sighed, his fears melting slightly as he resisted the urge to laugh. After all, he knew he had to see this through to the end and wasn't about to be distracted by her playful demeanor. He would finish what he started, all for her.

"Alright then, let's try this again." He cleared his throat and she stepped away giving him his space as she smiled up at him encouragingly. "Akane?" he began plainly and formally.

"Yes Ranma," she answered in a casual conversational tone.

"I wanted to tell you that I... That I... UGH! This is so stupid!" he shouted, giving up quicker this time despite the fact he had gotten off with a better start. "Why can't I just say it? This is so frustrating!"

"_You're_ frustrated? Ha!" Akane laughed bitterly, unable to keep her temper from slipping ever so slightly as her hopes for an actual confession began to crash to little pieces around her. "Imagine how I feel! What's the big deal anyway? Why can't you just say it and get it over with?"

He glared at her out of the corner of his eye. "Quit pressuring me! It's not going to make this any easier!"

She sighed again. "Fine, you're right. I'm sorry. I'll be quiet," she said as she crossed her arms and looked up at him expectantly, no longer displaying the patience she had before.

"This just... All of this... It doesn't feel right. Maybe we can... Just talk for a bit and I can ease into saying it gradually or something?"

Akane twisted her mouth trying to hide her disapproval and stomped her foot in agitation like a young girl throwing a temper tantrum but somehow managed to hold her tongue. "Fine," she grumbled. "Let's just talk then," she spoke thinly through clenched teeth.  
"Thanks. I uh... So... How was your day?"  
"Good, good. Yours?"

"It was fine."

"Good... Uh, oh hey how did your thing go?"

"Good!" Akane exclaimed, brightening suddenly as she momentarily forgot her frustration.

"I'm glad," he said awkwardly. "Sorry I couldn't go with you, but the girls were coming over and I figured they wouldn't be too happy if I wasn't here."

"Oh no worries, I understand how it is. You had other engagements to attend to. Besides, I really appreciate how great you've been with them lately, and I'm glad you're taking care of them for me. Better you than me. I really don't have the energy to spar with them anymore."

"I understand, and actually I don't mind doing it. Still I, uh, feel bad. I… Wanted to go with you. Did I miss out on anything?"

"No, not really. Oh except I did get a date," she beamed in excitement.

"Oh yeah? That's nice. When?"

"Two weeks from Friday."

"Seriously? That's a ways away!"

"Really? You think?"

"Yeah I mean considering the way you look I figured he wouldn't want to wait that long."

Akane cocked an eyebrow, not quite sure how to take his comment. "Well, I figured I should let him pick the day," she joked. "Can't have everything on my time. If nothing else being around you has taught me patience." She grinned at him and he stuck his tongue out at her in response to her tame insult. "But anyway, it's up to him, but I suppose it could happen sooner."

"I guess." Then he laughed. "Or he could be two weeks late like the last one was. Remember how your date with that one had to keep getting changed and pushed back further and further?"

Akane blanched at the memory. "Don't even joke about that! I was a wreck then. Those were the longest two weeks of my life!"

"Yeah, mine too. You were practically impossible to live with."

Akane gave him a death glare that abruptly ended his laughter. "Anyway," she said in a dangerous tone. "If there's nothing else for us to discuss, I should really be getting on with..."

"What? No wait! I still need to tell you something!"

"Then tell me already! I don't have all day!"

He swallowed a lump in his throat, "But I-I think that was actually working. It was helping me relax, you know?"

"Ranma, honestly, you're making too much of this whole thing. It's not like what happened yesterday meant anything. It's just… Hormones have interesting affects on people..."

"That's not it though. It still means something!" he proclaimed adamantly.

Akane smiled slightly at him. "You say that," she began patiently, "But I don't think you mean it. I mean if you really felt that way it wouldn't be so hard for you to admit it. You're just confused."

"No, you're wrong! I do mean it!"

"You may think that now, but..."

"Akane, for the last time, I'm telling you, I really do mean it!" he yelled, annoyed that she was falling back on old habits and losing trust in him. "It's just that... It's hard for me you know? I'm not used to this kinda stuff. Growing up, if I ever said something like that to Pops he'd think I was weak and pathetic or something and just beat me up to make me tougher or something. But still, I did want to tell you that I... I l-l-l... I lo... I... Well, you know."

He hung his head in defeat and Akane sighed. She knew Ranma's father had provided him with a rather warped view of how a guy was supposed to act in order to be manly and tough. His traditional mother, though typically very kind and gentle didn't really help in that area either. She had her own strange views regarding how a 'manly man' should behave and the whole threat of committing seppuku if she didn't find him 'manly' enough didn't help at all. It just served to reinforce all his fears about what would happen if he were open and vulnerable with someone and kept the barriers he'd put in place from breaking down. Akane was very aware of how these issues affected Ranma, and had been trying very hard to be patient and understanding about how it influenced his life and how he thought certain things should be done. It had taken a while, but she and Ranma had gradually established a way to work together when these issues started influencing their life and more specifically their relationship with each other. But that still didn't take away from the fact that it was incredibly frustrating when he couldn't be open and honest with her regarding certain issues.

"I know what you're trying to say Ranma, and I do understand why this is so hard for you. But... Please?" she said, taking his hand in her own and staring up at him imploringly. "Please, say it for me? I... I think I really need to hear those words."

He smiled, staring down at her adorable face with the full pouty pink lips and looked directly into her deep, chocolate brown eyes. "Akane," he said softly. "You know perfectly well I'm not going to fall for that act anymore."

Akane gave up and hmphed dramatically pulling her hand away from him. She wasn't actually mad, just disappointed because her sweet and innocent act had failed once again. Over time he had gradually gotten used to her ploys and her antics and was fairly successful at not letting her moods affect him too much. Still, that didn't stop her from trying, and he honestly didn't mind. It was one of the fun flirtatious games they played back and forth that kept their relationship fresh and exciting. The whole conversation had been nothing more than a light banter, and he knew they would both go on as if it had never occurred in a matter of minutes.

"Fine then," Akane responded, attempting to put an end to the discussion once and for all. "If you can't say it I'm going to start dinner before it gets too late!"

That got Ranma's attention quickly. "Really? You're making dinner? Again?"

"Uh huh!" Akane smiled.

"Well, whatcha making tonight?"

Akane got a far off contemplative look and began listing the possibilities off on her fingers. "Hmm, I'm not quite sure yet. I prepared some sushi rolls at lunch, but that's not really a full meal. Especially considering the way you Saotome men eat. Like father like son I guess huh?"  
Ranma smirked and shrugged.

"I wanted to try something less traditional though. I borrowed a Takoyaki grill from one of the girls in our morning martial arts class, so I guess I could try that. Too bad Ukyo's not around anymore. She could've given me some tips on making it authentic. Oh well, I guess I could make some Chow Mein? What do you think? It won't be as good as Shampoo's used to taste but..."

"Nonsense," Ranma said, stepping over and kissing her on the forehead. "Your cooking is just as good as Shampoo or Ukyo's ever was."  
She practically glowed under his praise. "You really mean it Ranma?"

"Of course I do. I mean, at least for the time being," he clarified.

Akane ignored the last half of his comment and preferred to focus on the rest of it. "Alright then. Chow Mein it is. Oh but would you mind picking up some noodles at the store? I forgot to get them on the way home from my appointment."

"Sure no problem."

"And can you take Ichiro with you? I kept him home from school today because he still had a slight fever, but he's better now and has been practically bouncing off the walls with energy wanting to get out of the house for a while."

"Yeah okay," Ranma smiled. He never minded spending time with the spunky, energetic kid.

"Oh, and that reminds me, while you're out can you grab some cough medicine for Ayame? I think she's getting Ichiro's cold now."

"Really? That's too bad! Poor thing." He frowned. He had to admit he had a big soft spot for that cute little girl and it astounded him how much her being hurt or sick could affect him. "Anything else you need Akane?"

"Um, how about some fresh octopus? I think I will try that Takoyaki tomorrow."

"Don't push yourself too much Akane. I mean don't you think you're overdoing it a bit with the cooking and the... Strength challenges? I mean considering your condition..."

"But that's why I'm doing it so much!" she exclaimed looking down at her large stomach. "I don't know why but I'm so much better at everything when I'm pregnant. Like I said, it's these crazy hormones. But once Akito is born I'll go back to just being average again!"

Ranma sighed and took his wife gently in his arms. "You're far from average, Akane."

She smiled and snuggled in closer to her husband. "Really Ranma?"

"Uh huh. I mean sure, your regular cooking has come a long way, but it's still far from normal."

"Ran-ma!" she growled as she began glowing red. He immediately leapt away from her in fear. "You jerk!" she shouted stalking towards him.

"I-I'm just kidding Akane, really! It's a joke, a joke!"

"Well it's not funny!"

"I know, I'm sorry, it's just, uh..." It was then he noticed he was quickly being backed into a corner. _"This is not good,"_ he decided. Akane on a normal day being mad at him and beating him to a pulp was intimidating, but when she was pregnant it was downright terrifying. They'd learned the first time she was pregnant that her prenatal hormones had a really strange affect on her. First she had surprised everyone when she had one day started cooking like a pro. The best they could figure was that the change in her taste buds had offset her normally poor sense of taste and prevented her from putting anything too weird or unusual in the food she prepared. The other discovery had been made when Akane was about six months pregnant with Ichiro. She had ceased practicing martial arts completely for the duration of her pregnancy, too afraid of getting hit in the stomach, or hurting the baby by jumping around too much, and she had assumed she was way out of practice. But then one day Kodachi had ambushed her as she made her way home from school by herself one afternoon and Akane knew she was in trouble and wouldn't be able to get away without a fight. She and Ranma had been forced to deal with Kodachi numerous times after they had gotten married, and each time the end result had not been pretty. Of all Ranma's past suitors, Kodachi had taken Ranma's marriage to Akane, and Akane's pregnancy the worst, pushing her already fragile sanity over the edge. But Ranma had always been the one to handle things with Kodachi. Up until that particular day at least. All Akane remembered was that she had been terrified for her life and the life of her child, and she knew she had to end the fight quickly. And she had done just that.

Her adrenaline and maternal instinct had kicked in increasing both her strength and speed to astounding levels. She had taken Kodachi out in record timing, hardly even thinking as she fought in a near blind rage, rendering Kodachi free of all her weapons and flinging her into the nearby channel. Surprised and a little impressed with her newfound skills, Akane had gone on to challenge Ranma and any other Martial Artist around to numerous tests of strength and speed, all with the approval of her doctor of course. No sparring, as she still feared it would be dangerous to her baby, but regardless, it became clear pretty fast that when she was pregnant she was practically invincible. She was downright untouchable, and impossible to best in anything, including arm wrestling, which was about the only thing that Ranma would reluctantly consent to going up against her on in her condition. He claimed that invincible or not he wasn't about to do anything that could potentially hurt his wife and child. Akane however thought it was simply because he was too proud to let her beat him at anything. As it was, he still couldn't admit to the fact that she was stronger than him.

Ranma cowered as his back touched the wall and Akane reached him, the promise of severe pain to be inflicted reflecting in her eyes. But then suddenly she stopped and blinked, and a brilliant smile crossed her features as she looked down and felt her stomach.

"Ah! He kicked me!"

Ranma cocked a curious eyebrow and then frowned. "Feh. Right now he's the only one that can I guess."

"Hmm? I knew it. You're still bitter that I beat you at arm wrestling again last night, aren't you? That's why you can't admit that you lost."

"I'm not bitter! It's just... Not fair," he pouted.

"Ah come on Ranma, don't be mad. Here," she said reaching for his hand. "Feel him kick. You know you want to."

Ranma hesitated only slightly before complying. Her stomach moved suddenly under his hand and he almost jumped back in surprise. "Whoa!"

"Told you," Akane grinned proudly. "He's going be quite the fighter, don't you think?"

"Yeah, geez he's a strong one."

"Just like his Daddy," Akane said, standing on her tiptoes to give him a quick peck on the cheek.

"And his Mommy," Ranma relented putting his arms around her. "We good?"

"Of course," she said, snuggling closer to him once again.

"So you decided on Akito huh? What happened to Nichiro or Ranma Junior?"

Akane wrinkled her nose. "I thought you were kidding when you suggested those!"

He laughed. "Yeah, well, Akito's nice too."

"I thought it would be considering he'll be born in the fall. You sure you like it?"

"Uh huh. It sounds perfect."

"I'm glad," Akane smiled. Things were good. She never knew how happy she could be being a wife and a mother, running the dojo with the man she loved, and having no more obstacles in their relationship other then the semi-regular spats that were typical for any married couple. But regardless of how many fights they had, it didn't change how she felt about him. "I love you Ranma."

He smiled. "I love you too Tomboy."

It came out easily and smoothly just as it had the numerous times before when he'd said it in the past. After all, some things were easy to say. Telling his beautiful wife of six years that he loved her was easy. However, admitting that he had l-lo... Lost at an arm wrestling match to a woman that was eight and a half months pregnant and crazy strong due to her prenatal hormones was an entirely different issue. "Sorry Akane. I guess there are some things a guy just can't say."

She sighed softly as she continued to hug him. "Dummy," she sighed, her smile failing to leave her lips.

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**Author's Notes**: Oh that was fun! It's been forever since I've written any oneshots! Lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Probably not quite what you were expecting him to be trying to say now was it? Sorry about that guys, but I have to say, I do enjoy my twists and gags in stories. I've always been amused by stories where you're anxious for the moment when two characters finally get together only to find out at the end that they've been together all along. I always wanted to try my hand at a story like this and actually think it turned out quite well! But I'd love to hear your thoughts on it so please take some time to review. Thanks!

I've also wondered how pregnancy would affect someone with really interesting quirks like Akane, and had a lot of fun inventing strange possibilities for how prenatal hormones would mess with her behaviors and abilities. It's an interesting concept, I must say with plenty of possibilities that I think I may look into more in the future with similar stories following the same sequence of events.

On that note, if you want to read more about Ichiro, Ayame, Akito and some of the other offspring of the original Ranma 1/2 cast, check out _Eighteen Years_, which is my crack at a Ranma 1/2, the next generation type story. I know there are a lot of these kinds of stories out there already but I kind of took mine an unusual direction so if you're interested in this concept at all please give my story a read! It takes place eighteen years after the end of the original manga and explores the ups and downs of married life for all of the original characters as well as the interactions their children have as they start to meet up and learn about how crazy the lives of their parents used to be. The current arc of the story mostly revolves around Ichiro Saotome and Karou Hibiki, both 17 year old students at Furinkan, but there are other characters that play huge parts, including Ayame and Akito Saotome, Minami Kuno, and many others that will be appearing in the not so distant future!

Also, I'm thinking of starting up a prequel to _Eighteen Years_ that fills in the gaps between the end of the manga and my story and details how all the original characters get together and start raising families. The more I plot out a history of events for _Eighteen Years _and make reference to things that happened in the past, the more I realize that the sequence of events I've plotted out could make for a pretty interesting story on its own. This story you just read for instance would fit into the original timeline and history I've created perfectly. Anyway, check out _Eighteen Years_ and then let me know if you think you'd enjoy reading a prequel story for it. I'm going to try and finish _Mission Impossible _and maybe even _Love Vanished Once, Regrettably _before I start up anything else new, but it's something I may start prepping for if there's much of an interest for it.

**Story Notes**: Regarding names; Ichiro basically means first born son, 'ichi' being the Japanese word for the number one. 'Ni' is of course the Japanese word for the number two, so Nichiro would technically be second born son, but as far as I know this isn't an actual name, and instead is a rather silly one that Ranma made up. Aki is the word for autumn or fall, and Akito is a fairly common name for boys that are born during that season. For instance, there is an Akito in Fruits Basket and Kodomo Omocha (Child's Toy), the later being where I actually picked up the name. I do love that story, and Hayama Akito's character. Although Saotome Akito in _Eighteen Years_ is more like Kurata Sana since he's so hyper.

Sequence of events for this story: If you read it again keeping the ending in mind a lot of the things referred to make more sense. But here's a bit of clarification in case you're still in the dark a bit about certain things. First of all, Ranma wasn't trying to say 'I love you,' he was trying to say 'I lost,' and he was specifically referring to the fact that Akane had beaten him at an arm wrestling match the previous day. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to assume Ranma would have a lot of trouble saying something like that. ;-) The appointment Akane went to that she kept referring to was a prenatal checkup with her doctor, and at the appointment the doctor gave her a due date for when Akito would be born. I was trying to make it sound like someone had asked her out on a date, but I'm not sure I succeeded with that purpose very well. This was the toughest part to write after all. When Ranma's saying he wouldn't expect 'him' to wait that long he meant that Akane was basically huge and that he suspected Akito would want to be born sooner. When he commented the last one was two weeks late, he wasn't referring to another guy Akane had dated but rather the fact that Ayame, their last child was born two weeks late. The girls that Ranma had coming over that Akane didn't seem the list bit bothered by weren't Shampoo, Ukyo and/or Kodachi, but rather students from the Tendo-Saotome Dojo's female Anything Goes Martial Arts class. At some point in time Ranma and Akane did end up inheriting the dojo and although it isn't incredibly successful, they do teach a handful of regular classes and have a fair number of students. The female course would normally be taught by Akane, but when she's pregnant Ranma's girl half takes over for her. I think that's most of the stuff that might need clarifying.

Anyway, let me know what you thought! Like I said, I really enjoyed writing it and I hope you enjoyed reading it! Thanks for taking the time to check out my story, and if you like my writing, try some of the other ones I have at my profile page.

Ja ne!

~ C ~


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